Happy Bloggers - as in the Wanderer

This is a preview of our last house sit for the year. We have agreed to do one last hurray at the Central Coast over Christmas and as well as two dogs, one cat, we will also be looking after 8 guinea pigs! We visited the house on our way back to Canberra to meet the family and our charges. We have never looked after guinea pigs before so it will be a challenge. I can't remember the names of these two ladies.

We are so happy with our blog and the resultant book (a Blook according to Wikipedia) from it, that I wrote an article on the subject which was published in the November 2010 issue of The Wonderer, the magazine of the Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia. It is an excellent magazine with many interesting and informative articles.

A photo of the article. Thanks for those who commented.

Our around OZ adventure is now over and we are back home. However, we plan to do another trip to Central Australia from approximately March - June 2011. We certainly will be writing a blog again. We are not sure if we will continue with this blog or create another one which is likely to be titled Travels in Central Australia. If you are interested please keep a look out for it.

Ormeau, Qld housesit

October 2010 was our last house sit before returning home after 20 months away. Here is Andrew relaxing at Peter and Lyn's house with Molly and Samson resting with him.

Cheeky Molly, whose paramount pleasure in life is to have one of her toys thrown around so she can fetch it. Two of thew said toys are at her feet while she looks at you beseechingly.

Nikki with Molly, Samson and visiting Sammi. Sammi's owner turned up a day before our house owners returned from holiday expecting Sammi to be looked after for a couple of days. Obviously a slight misunderstanding of dates but it was no problem. We can cope with three dogs as well as with two :-)

Old Bar housit

We have been very slack at updating the blog lately so this is now a retrospective, for our records more than anything. The photo shows me feeding Max and Buddy at Old Bar where we house sat Nancy and Eric's house on 5 acres at end of September. It was a lovely relaxing sit.

The three chooks provided us with eggs. For some reason that nobody has been able to explain, the three hens always laid two eggs each day.

Feeding the hens. They were always delighted to see whoever was feeding them.

While there, I completed my second piece of art work, my tiled table to go beside the barbecue when I get home.

Halliday's Point House sit

This is our current house sit at Halliday's Point. Andrew is enjoying the north facing verendah.

Our charges, Sac the Yorkie and Tammy the silky. These are two of the best fed and looked after dogs we have come across. Max and Eve lavish wonderful attention to their every needs.

Tammy after a bath. Not so keen on it but very well behaved.

This is Blackhead Reserve where the monthly Blackhead Bazaar (market) is held on the last Sunday of the month - but not during the winter months. It is a wonderful venue for a market, lush, green and shady and the goods on offer are all delicious, well made and relatively unusual - not the same old same old wares you see at many markets. It reminded me of the Bellingen market which is also once a month and similar. Being a market connoisseur , I rate this market pretty highly. I enjoyed it enormously. We won't be here by the next one but still in the area and I plan a return visit.

Green Point sit continued

Charlie the coctatiel at Green Point.

Charlie likes his head scratched. He is a very responsive bird.

More head scratching

A last view of Lake Wallace.

Green Point house sit

This photo of the back of my head is to illustrate the wonderful view I am enjoying while sitting in front of the laptop. It is taken at the Lakeside Escape Bed and Breakfast at Green Point where we are currently house sitting.

The full view of Lake Wallis from the terrace.

Bella the poodle/papillon cross, the reason we are here. Bella is a gorgeous little dog, seven months old and sweet natured. There is also Charlie the cockatiel, but his photo did not turn out well so I have not included it in this series.

Andrew in the kitchen, the gorgeous view off to the side. Floor to celing windows capture the view of the lake.

Back in Forster-Toncurry, at Failford

We are here for 6 weeks looking after this spacious lovely home set on 2 acres backing on to bushland. There will be a photo of Andrew when he uses the ride on mower.

The owners are away overseas visiting Venice, Slovenia and Santorini. We are trying to remember that we like house sitting and travel envy is not a becoming trait.

The view from the verendah at the back. How tranquil is this? I mean who would want to be in Venice when they can have this?

Seriously, we are enjoying ourselves very much. And it is nice being back in the Forster-Toncurry area.

Another view of the bush at the back of the house. I wish I could capture the visiting wallabies.

The real reason we are here. Tillie the elderly Cavalier King Charles spaniel whose main interest in life is food. Tillie has a heart condition and is on medication but this does not prevent her enjoying every moment of anticipaton of an edible treat. She is sweet natured and no trouble at all.

Caloundra continued

This is a pretty short house sit of 10 days on the Sunshine Coast. It has allowed us to catch up with friends at Palmwoods, Penny and Roland, visit the Eumundi Market and look around a little. We were here a year ago when we were starting out on our around OZ trip and we explored the area then, so this time, we did not do so much sightseeing, rather just lazed around Caloundra, exploring the beaches, taking the dogs for walks every day and played bridge at the Caloundra Bridge Club.

Another view of Caloundra.

Tetley is a Tibetan Spaniel with a lopsided grin. Apparently Tetley had got himself lost one day and when he was found, the people who found him told the owners he may have had a stroke as his tongue was hanging at an odd angle. No, it was Tetley being himself, a very endearing little dog.

A fun fountain near the beach where children can play.

Caloundra, Sunshine Coast, Qld

Caloundra on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is a good base from which to explore the entire region. There are nine different beaches to choose from all within easy driving distance of the house we are sitting at. Because of our canine charges, Jasper and Tetley (pictured above), are most frequent outings were to the beach north of Dicky Beach, Currimundi Beach where dogs are allowed off the leash and it is doggie heaven and a great socialising place for them. Other beaches are Bulcock Beach where I had missed the opportunity to take a photo of the kitesurfers and wind surfers going back and forth across the estuary; Kings Beach the most popular surf beach at Caloundra, Moffat Beach, Golden Beach plus a few others.

Bribie Island is very close to Caloundra also and kayaking enthusiasts take pleasure in a leisurely paddle to the northern tip of the island across Pumicestone Passage.

Australia Zoo is also nearby. Eumundi Markets are on every Wednesday and Saturday and I was able to sample a Hungarian langos with garlic, cheese and sour cream.

The dog beach with Caloundra in the background.

This is the saltwater swimming pool at Kings Beach.

Kings Beach to the immediate right to the swimming pool above. One has a choice of the calm waters of the salt water pool or the waves which are quite tame on this day.

How we spend time in Forster

The twin towns of Forster-Toncurry are positioned on either side of the broad outlet of Wallis Lake. On a sunny day, the alluring sight of the lake’s emerald waters sparkling beneath the bridge that connects Forster with Toncurry tempt travellers crossing from one side to the other. The lazy picture of people swimming and boating on the waters below summarises the atmosphere around here. Photos of this are coming up at a later stage.

There was an article in the Traveller section of the SMH on March 27-28 extolling the virtues of the area for scenery and as an ideal holiday destination. Scurrilous detractors may label the charms of Forster-Toncurry as “God’s waiting room” due to the large number of retirees living here but domestic tourists continue to flock to the area.

The coast is blessed with fine sands and beaches of every kind, picturesque and safe swimming beaches, surfing beaches and beaches stretching far beyond what the eye can see. The beach in the photo above is of One Mile Beach.

The Forster town beach has a netted rock pool and ocean baths. Children friendly lagoons are protected by unusual rock formations and invite the traditional bucket and spade family holidays.

This is a shot of the cliffs and the sea kayak to the rightof the middle of the picture. Click on it to enlarge the photo and see the kayak more clearly.

Andrew resurrected his yellow inflatable kayak which we have named Yellow Ducky. Here is a photo of Andrew giving Yellow Ducky the kiss of life inflating it on his own - I have no lung capacity.

As you can see the other shot of a sea kayak off the coast above is a little different from our yellow friend.

This shot was taken at the Frothy Coffee shop at Smiths Lake after our rubber kayak excursion. There are gas barbecues around the lake inviting post-sporting activity lunches and fry ups.

The trip continues........but we now housesit

Our first housesit of 2010 - a lovely airy house is Forster on the NSW coast. The house is an immaculate, comfortable home belonging to two sisters of bridge friends who used to live in Canberra many years ago. The bridge friends are currently doing a house swap in New Zealand and the ladies are visiting their brother and sister-in-law for two weeks.

Part of the garden. What you don't see is the wonderful rocket, tomatoes and tree tomatoes that are ripe for the picking.

The real reason we are here - Tino the golden Burmese. Tino is 15 years old and he spends his time sleeping, eating, more sleeping and some meowing at night looking for the other mistresses.

A photo of Andrew in his element -fixing things in need of repair. He has so far fixed a whistling toilet and a non-working sprinkler. Who knows what else he may find in the fortnight that we are here.